In a virtualized system, a single peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) hardware device may appear as multiple PCIe virtual devices that are each capable of providing virtual functions. Multiple logical partitions in the virtualized system may have access to one or more of the multiple PCIe virtual devices.
When an input/output (I/O) adapter is plugged into a PCIe slot on a computer motherboard, the maximum number of virtual functions that are available for use may vary based on various factors. Such factors may include the design of the card, the manufacturer of the card, and the PCIe slot into which the I/O adapter is plugged. For example, the capabilities of the PCIe slot into which the I/O adapter is plugged may affect the maximum number of available virtual functions. In addition, the maximum number of virtual functions associated with each port of the I/O adapter may be set when the virtualized system is initialized. The virtualized system may be reinitialized to reconfigure the maximum number of virtual functions associated with each port of the I/O adapter.